Obama Goes to Public for Leverage

By

Colleen McCain Nelson and

Peter Nicholas

Feb. 25, 2013 4:18 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama, long accused of keeping Congress at arm's length, is focusing even more intently on working around lawmakers rather than with them as he pursues his second-term agenda.

With deep spending cuts set to take effect Friday and the White House and Republicans at an impasse, the president has signaled his priority this week will be talking to the public about his own plan to avoid the cuts, rather than...